The 2011-2012 crawfish season, like last year, got off to a slow start. Reports from the field indicated this year’s early season harvest was below last season’s early catch, and that 2010-2011 early crop of crawfish was considered poor.
So what was the most likely cause for the slow start to this year’s farm-raised crawfish crop?
It is thought that drought for the last half of 2011 is the key factor that has led to a slow start to the 2011-12 farm-raised crawfish season in Louisiana, USA.
LSU AgCenter research shows insufficient rainfall during summer and winter periods can reduce crawfish production. Crawfish need an adequate supply of water in the bottom of burrows for the females to survive. If a burrow cracks open and the water evaporates and is not replenished by rainfall, crawfish most likely will die. Second, rainfall is critically important in softening the burrow plugs so females with young can emerge from the burrows.
Dr Ray McClain, in studies conducted at the LSU AgCenter’s Rice Research Station, showed rainfall was more important to female survival and egg hatching than the depth of the water table.
In the large crawfish producing parishes of Vermilion and Jefferson Davis, ponds located near the coast had to deal with issues of salty water. Some of these farmers delayed flooding their ponds until November, read more …
So what was the most likely cause for the slow start to this year’s farm-raised crawfish crop?
It is thought that drought for the last half of 2011 is the key factor that has led to a slow start to the 2011-12 farm-raised crawfish season in Louisiana, USA.
LSU AgCenter research shows insufficient rainfall during summer and winter periods can reduce crawfish production. Crawfish need an adequate supply of water in the bottom of burrows for the females to survive. If a burrow cracks open and the water evaporates and is not replenished by rainfall, crawfish most likely will die. Second, rainfall is critically important in softening the burrow plugs so females with young can emerge from the burrows.
Dr Ray McClain, in studies conducted at the LSU AgCenter’s Rice Research Station, showed rainfall was more important to female survival and egg hatching than the depth of the water table.
In the large crawfish producing parishes of Vermilion and Jefferson Davis, ponds located near the coast had to deal with issues of salty water. Some of these farmers delayed flooding their ponds until November, read more …
This blog is written by staff at International Aquafeed Magazine which is published and supported by Perendale Publishers Limited. To get your copy of PPL's web application, 'PPLAPP' click here.
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